Closing the Achievement Gap Through Teacher Collaboration - 3 views
-
jcaputo2 on 28 Mar 18(Week 7 Jason Caputo and Ericka Posey- Group 8) This article is available through the UMUC library through the permalink above. This article examines a teacher directed model for closing achievement gaps. It explains why administrator driven directives and extensive scripting of curriculum are not always successful in closing achievement gaps. It explains the "risk is that prescriptive, bureaucratic approaches will drive talented and thoughtful teachers out of specific schools or the entire profession"(Levine and Marcus, 2007) However, it also points out potential flaws in systems without some oversight of teachers. In the case study presented, teachers avoid asking tough questions about instructional challenges, methods, and expectations/standards. Despite their good intentions and implementation of some effective strategies, during their team meeting/PLC time, "requests for help occurred around specific students or parents; teachers did not use this particular forum as a site for seeking help with core instructional challenges" (Levine and Marcus, 2007). While they are able to reduce some of the achievement gap, there is significant room for growth in their professional practice. The protocols discussed in our course address this, as they provide a professional and polite way to ask challenging questions about professional practice. References Levine, T. H., & Marcus, A. S. (2007). Closing the Achievement Gap through Teacher Collaboration: Facilitating Multiple Trajectories of Teacher Learning. Journal Of Advanced Academics, 19(1), 116-138.